car is howling. Pitch sound increases w/ RPM. This occurred shortly after

[audiquattrot]

I started noticing a weird idle at lights. Yesterday I was sitting at a light and saw the CEL flashed for a second and went away.

Today I exited off the expressway and noticed at the light the car was jumpy at idle, but then went away....and had a loss of power. At the same time there was an audible 'howling' sound coming from the engine bay as I accelerated...almost like I had a supercharger.

Any ideas?

I recently put a rebuilt AFM and no vacuum leaks....car has full power.

[DRTSRFR]

Alternator or idler bearing seizing/failing perhaps?

[pandaiswong]

If the howling is not an intermittent problem, it could be your fan clutch causing that.

[audiquattrot]

Bingo! It ended up being the fan/clutch imploding. Blades chewed off, and the bearings on the clutch were popping out. Took it out for now....installing a new one tomorrow. Thanks guys!

[audiquattrot]

I think the cel was a coincidental issue. Also took out the ICV and cleaned it ....hopefully that helps that problem

[pandaiswong]

Glad i could help.

[audiquattrot]

put the new fan and clutch last night, and noticed that the blades were slightly rubbing on the coolant hoses/bracket....also grazing the cover of the spark plug wires. I made sure the blades were put onto the clutch the right way to get the most clearance to these hoses, but it still seemed to come awfully close (prob why the blades sheared to begin with).

I added a washer to the inside of the fan clutch, to act as a spacer when threading down the fan. Any drawbacks to this? It clears fine now. Car was never hit in the front before.....but I did do a full timing belt install last summer including all new coolant hoses.

[nando]

maybe the clutch/fan is for a different motor?

is the clip that holds the upper radiator hose in place?

[audiquattrot]

maybe the clutch/fan is for a different motor?

is the clip that holds the upper radiator hose in place?

I compared both side by side and they were exactly the same. The stock fan def was rubbing for some time. All the clips on the hoses are secure and present (a little OCD of mine) lol.

I can understand that maybe it would graze the coolant hose if its not secured down properly, but it was a little odd that it grazed the cover of the spark plug wires which doesn't have flex....and that was clipped in fully.